British Council APTIS Teen Test 少年版

PART 5

Mission To Mars

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1. On 3rd June 2010 an international crew of six astronauts entered a spaceship and prepared themselves for a 520-day voyage to the planet Mars and back. The module that was to be their home for the next year and half contained their sleeping quarters, a kitchen/dining room, a living room, a control room and a toilet. There was also space for food storage, a small greenhouse, a bathroom, a sauna and even a gym. The Mars landing was scheduled for 12th February 2011, following a 255-day flight, and would involve a full two days of exploration of the planet’s surface. An equally long return journey would see the astronauts return to earth on 4th November 2011.

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2. Emerging from the spaceship after an exhausting 520 days, Russian commander Alexei Sitev declared the mission finally over. “The programme has been fully carried out,” he announced at a press conference. “All the crew members are in good health. We are now ready for further tests.” Indeed, the general consensus in the scientific community was that the Mars 500 project had achieved its aims, and, what is more, the crew had managed to complete their mission without ever having to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.

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3. Mars 500 was, in fact, a simulation exercise. The astronauts never even left the ground and their spaceship was a specially constructed working model situated in a warehouse in the suburbs of Moscow. The aims of the mission were to see how well humans could cope with the confinement and stress involved in extended interplanetary travel. The astronauts – three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian and a Chinese national – were volunteers for the project, and, although all of them had the option of leaving their 550 cubic meter living space at any time, none of them chose to do so.

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4. All communications between the crew and mission control were subject to a twenty-minute delay to simulate the time it would take signals to reach the earth from outer space. Although not all the elements of space flight – such as the effects of zero gravity – could be reproduced, the conditions on board were made as realistic as possible. The astronauts breathed recycled air, showered only once every ten days and lived mostly on a diet of tinned food. Even the surface of Mars had been recreated to allow the crew the simulated experience of walking on the red planet.

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5. In addition to the discomforts of living in a confined space, the astronauts also had to endure the psychological stresses brought about by isolation and boredom. Scientific studies have already shown that extended periods of social isolation can disrupt the normal mechanisms of the body. This can lead to increased levels of stress and higher blood pressure, which, in turn, can create feelings of anxiety and aggression. The astronauts were subject to regular medical tests throughout the experiment and they were under constant observation via a twenty-four-hour closed-circuit television system. The tests continued even after the men had completed their mission as the scientists were interested to see how the astronauts would cope with a return to normal life.

 

6. The data collected by the experiment is further evidence that human beings are capable of overcoming the pressures of long space flight that will be necessary if future exploration of planets is to be feasible. Although there is resistance in some quarters to investment in space exploration, some scientists believe that our future lies in the stars. With the world’s population exceeding seven billion and showing no sign of slowing down, future generations may be forced to seek out new worlds beyond our own increasingly overcrowded planet.

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7. Although the dry and dusty landscape of Mars may not be the most suitable spot for future habitation, there are other planets that could sustain human life. To date, about 700 planets with similarities to Earth have been identified outside our own solar system, and about 15 of these are potentially habitable. The most recent to be discovered – Kepler 22-b – has a surface temperature of about 22°C and orbits a star, not unlike our own sun. Scientists believe that it may even contain water. However, although it may seem like a good candidate for a future space colony, it is 600 light years away, and so it is likely to remain beyond human reach for many generations to come. (741 words)

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Read the passage quickly. Choose a heading for each numbered paragraph 1 to 7 from the drop-down box. There is one more heading than you need.

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__ Life on Mars

__ A long journey in space

__ Imitating life in space

__ A successful outcome

__ Is space the future for mankind?

__ Only an experiment

__ A distant new world

__ The difficulties of living in space

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